Tact
by Beautiful Sensations
Summary: Lucy tries to teach Natsu some tact, thinking it to be a hopeless mission. Unbeknownst to her, Natsu is actually a good student. And for the first time in her life, Lucy has been denser than Natsu.


Natsu x Lucy Oneshot

Title- Tact

Summary- Lucy tries to teach Natsu some tact, thinking it to be a hopeless mission. Unbeknownst to her, Natsu is actually a good student. And for the first time in her life, Lucy has been denser than Natsu.

_I think Natsu does need some lessons on tact. He has the emotional range of a teaspoon __ . And when you're done reading, please please please please review. As always, constructive criticism is always appreciated. Fluff towards the end._

_**Standard disclaimers apply.**_

* * *

"Okay, Natsu, what will you say to a small girl who is crying because she dropped her ice-cream on the ground?"

"I'll tell her to go buy another one. That's such a stupid reason to cry!"

Lucy sighed. Why was she teaching him tact anyway? _Oh yes, _she told herself._ Wendy had burst into tears after a misplaced word on Natsu's part. He cares about his comrades deeply, but he needs to learn how to show that._

But there was a part of her, that cynical part of her mind, that whispered, _Oh, but there's another reason as well, right? You're hoping that if you teach Natsu some tact, he might notice the feelings he harbours for you, if any?_

_Shut up!_ She told herself fiercely. _You don't like him Luce, you're just his nakama! You're just trying to help- wait- did I just call myself Luce?!_

She had a mental argument with herself and, of course, it was Cynical Lucy who won, but she pushed Cynical Lucy out of her head. It helps when you've got ninety per cent of your mind on your side.

She returned her attention back to Natsu, only to find that the chair that he had been occupying a few minutes ago was empty. She could hear a noise coming from her kitchen which sounded suspiciously like chewing.

She sighed for the second time and dragged herself to her kitchen. Sure enough, the salmon haired dragon slayer was crouched on the floor in front of the open fridge door, mouth bulging. She cleared her throat, and watched, with some amusement, as Natsu's brain registered the fact that he was not alone in this eating haven. He looked at her like a kid caught stealing from a cookie jar, which was completely appropriate a term for him, except that he was stealing from a _whole freaking fridge._

"I'm hungry," Natsu grumbled. "I'd rather fight Zero again than take lessons from you on tact."

"Well, the lack of tact in you is _precisely_ why you and Gray get beaten up by Erza every day," Lucy pointed out.

"See! Even Gray doesn't have tact! But you're not giving him lessons, are you?" Natsu protested.

The blonde blushed. "I've asked Juvia to do that."

Natsu huffed, and then said, "Let's go for a job instead. That's way better than sitting here learning tact and it'll help pay for your rent money too. It's nearly the end of the month."

She gave up. "Alright, you go to the guild and pick a job, and I'll join you after I'm done cleaning up this disgusting mess you've made."

His face brightened. "Really Luce? You're not gonna ask me to clean up with you?"

"If I ask _you_ to clean up, this kitchen will end up even dirtier than it is now."

He whooped. "You're the best Luce! I'll go and pick a job and pick you up later!"

She was going to shout after him and tell him that leaving your friend to clean up the mess that _you_ have created is not at all tactful, but there was a moment back then when her heart had fluttered and her pulse had risen. Because _oh my god_ the words 'You're the best Luce!' coming from Natsu's mouth sounded so perfect that she wished she could record it and hear it forever.

She mentally shook her head and told herself to snap out of it, then proceeded to pick up one of the many banana peels that Natsu had tossed onto the floor.

* * *

She squinted as Natsu enthusiastically shoved the request into her face, blabbering something about 'beating up robbers'.

JOB REQUEST

TO CATCH THE BAND OF THIEVES THAT KEEPS ROBBING OUR VILLAGE.

PAYMENT- 500,000 JEWELS

ADDRESS- OKALAMA VILLAGE, NORTH-EAST FIORE

THANK YOU.

"Okay, sounds good. We'll leave tomorrow," said Lucy, after she was done reading the flyer.

"Noooo," whined Natsu. "Let's go now Luce!"

"Natsu, if we leave now, we'll reach there by five in the evening. It's no good if we have to search for their hideout during the dark."

"It doesn't matter. Let's go now. I'll go and call Happy. Go and pack your bag. I'll meet you at your apartment."

He raced out of the door before she even had time to utter a squeak of protest.

"My, my, _someone _sure is anxious to be alone with you, Lucy."

Lucy jumped. Mirajane had stealthily eavesdropped on her conversation with Natsu, and now had a sly smile spreading over her face.

Lucy' s cheeks flamed and began to rival Erza's hair. "It's nothing like that," she said quickly. "Natsu is just over excited. Besides, he's gone to call Happy. If he had wanted to be alone with me then he wouldn't have called Happy."

Mirajane merely smiled and went back to polishing the beer tankards on the table.

* * *

**Fifteen minutes later…**

"Hey Natsu, where's Happy?"

"He said that he had to go on a date with Charle the next day. He said that if he came with us then he would have to miss the date."

"Too bad, then."

Lucy cursed that stupid blue cat. _Now it won't be long before Mirajane gets to know that Natsu and I have gone alone. Then, when we get back, there'll be all sorts of new rumors about me and Natsu, and everyone will ask me if something has happened between us during this job._

_But aren't you hoping that, too? _Smirked Cynical Lucy. _I know that you're still hanging onto a shred of hope that something might happen between you and Natsu._

She sighed. Meanwhile, apprehension and uneasiness was written all over Natsu's face, courtsy of the train that had just steamed into the station, the train that went via Okalama Village. He gulped.

They both boarded the train and Natsu promptly began to moan and groan, even though the train hadn't started yet.

The moaning and groaning intensified as the train started.

"Honestly Natsu," Lucy sighed. "Here, come and put your head into my lap."

Natsu, now incapable of speaking, merely nodded and put his head onto her lap, and sighed contentedly as she ran her fingers through his hair.

Then the blushing began.

Heat flooded Lucy's cheeks as she gazed down upon Natsu's sleeping face. His arms were wrapped around her waist and he was mumbling something in his sleep. She could not help thinking how incredibly cute he looked.

_What's wrong with me? _She thought. _I've done this plenty of times before. Why am I blushing now?_

_Maybe it's because your true love is resting his head on your lap and has his arms wrapped around your waist? _Cynical Lucy snickered.

_No, _she protested, but her protest seemed as weak as Natsu's prone form, weakened due to motion sickness. _Aaaarrgghhh._

_Or maybe it's because you're suppressing a huge urge to kiss him right now, _chortled Cynical Lucy. _Dear me, what dirty thoughts you're having right now. Tut tut._

_No,_ she cried._ I'm not thinking any of that!_

The civil war in Lucy's mind raged on and only stopped when they had reached their destination and Natsu had finally begun to stir.

* * *

No sooner had they dropped their bags off at the local inn than Natsu had insisted that they start looking for the band of thieves _right now_.

After asking a few questions about the general appearances of the thieves, they had set out in the nearby forest where the thieves had set up their hideout.

And that was why they were wandering around in the forest, without a trace of the village or the hideout, with only Natsu's flaming fists to light their way, as he hurled several expletives at the sky, hopelessly lost. The sun had set hours ago.

"See, Natsu, this is exactly why I had said that we start exploring during the day time."

"Don't worry Luce, I'll get us out of here."

"If only we knew _where_ here is."

They continued walking aimlessly through the forest when Natsu suddenly stopped. Lucy opened her mouth to ask why he had stopped, when she suddenly stepped on something that felt like a plank of wood.

"What the- AAAAAAAAAA!"

The wooden plank had suddenly started to slide down the hill they had just climbed, and it was gaining speed with every second. Next to her, Lucy was aware of Natsu's motion sickness kicking in.

Everything was a blur as they whooshed down the slope and into a tunnel. The wooden plank, or rather cart, had no engine, and it was strange that it kept on running even after the effects of momentum should have gone.

She felt a sharp pain in her head as they landed, headfirst, onto the floor, in front of a large amount of people. She blearily opened her eyes as she was hand-cuffed and thrown over someone's shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Looking sideways, she saw that an unconscious Natsu had been bound in the same way.

They were both thrown into a small, rough room-like space which had been dug out by their captives, whom, she assumed, constituted of the band of thieves they were asked to catch. There was a loud _bang_ as the door shut (apparently they had managed to attach a door to the entrance). She could hear the men talking outside.

"Ye saw the blonde lass? I bet she'd be able to give me a good time in bed."

"Yer too ugly for her, Matt. Lemme have her."

"Oh, and _you_ can talk. With that face of yers, ye'd give children nightmares."

"Shut up, both of you. You both know that the girl has to be saved for the boss. The real problem is Pinkie there. He looks an awful lot like the Salamander from that crazy Fairy Tail guild."

There was a lot of grumbling.

"Boss never lets us have any fun. He needs to realize that we have hormones too, ya know."

"Shut your gob Matt! The boss ain't gonna like it if you snatch his screw. Now stop blabbering, all of you, an' figure out a way to dispose of Pinkie!"

"Why don't we just kick 'im out while he's knocked out?"

"I think we should just let boss decide. Anyways these two ain't gonna do any magic any time soon."

"I still want Sexy Blondie." Was the last sentence Lucy heard before the men began to walk away.

The footsteps died away.

Lucy shuddered. Those were the words of monsters. She had to wake Natsu up before those scoundrels decided that their _hormones_ were more important than their loyalty to their boss. She half wriggled and half slid towards Natsu. Her legs were tied together and her arms were bound behind her back, which made it difficult to move around. She nudged Natsu with her shoulder and didn't stop until he had started stirring and groaning.

He opened his eyes and tried to move his limbs, but failed, as he was bound with ropes just like Lucy. He looked around, confused. "What the….?"

Lucy opened her mouth to answer but jumped as Natsu suddenly screeched, "Why the heck am I tied up?! Where am I? Show yourselves, you cowardly bastards! Let me fight you!"

"Natsu- Natsu- Be quiet, they'll hear us-"

"THAT'S WHY I'M SHOUTING!"

"No, no, we need to find a way to escape-"

"COME FIGHT ME!"

"NO! Natsu, listen, we can't use our magic, I overheard them-

"COME FI- Wait, what? We can't use our magic? But these are ordinary ropes. I can burn them away in an instant! ROAR OF THE-"

"No, Natsu-"

"-FIRE DRAGON!"

Natsu's gaping mouth blew out only thin air.

"I know that these ropes are ordinary ropes, Natsu, these aren't taking our powers from us, something else is! We just need to find it…." Even as those words left Lucy's mouth, she spotted something on Natsu's body and instantly knew the reason for their lack of powers.

There was a collar-like item wound around Natsu's neck, which was obviously sucking their powers away. Lucy was sure that she had one wrapped around her neck too.

"Hey, Natsu, those collars on our necks, they're taking our powers away! We need to rip these away."

Natsu immediately began to try to bite his collar away, looking quite likea puppy trying to bite its own tail. Lucy rolled her eyes and said, "Natsu, you can't tear away your own collar. Use your brain."

He looked up at her, frowning, and then his face brightened. "I know! I'll tear away _your_ collar!"

Lucy nodded, wondering why this idea hadn't occurred to her. But it wasn't until Natsu had crawled over to her and put his mouth close to her neck when she realized what she had done.

"N-Natsu, what are you doing?" she squeaked. Natsu gave her a _duh _look, "My hands are tied up, in case you haven't noticed."

"B-but…" she trailed off as Natsu wriggled, trying to get closer to her. "Don't move," he told her. "Otherwise I might accidently bite you instead."

Every drop of blood flowing in her body managed to find its way to her cheeks.

Her breath got caught in her throat as she felt his lips pressing against her bare, tingling skin. Apparently the collar was wrapped securely so it was hard for him to get a grip on it with his teeth. Her mind began to lose focus and she tilted her neck instinctively, allowing more skin to be exposed.

_Lucy, you dirty little girl, _whispered Cynical Lucy. _What are you doing?_

But it was hard for her to control her emotions now, so even Cynical Lucy's voice sounded hazy and dim. Then, after several minutes, Natsu made a sound that sounded like a _Yes!_ and yanked his head back.

A shredding sound floated to Lucy's near-inebriated ears and she opened her half-closed eyes. Natsu's grinning face was only a few inches away from her own shocked, blushing one and he signalled towards the torn collar which was lying on the floor. "I did it!" he crowed.

After some stretching Lucy finally reached one of her keys, and then, with some relief in her voice, she cried, "Gate of the Maiden- I open thee! Virgo!"

"Time for punishment, Mistress?"

"No, no, Virgo, just untie me and Natsu."

It was pretty much predictable after that- Natsu burned the entire place down in his fury at being tied up ("How dare you tie up _Fairy Tail_ wizards!"), and Virgo used her chains to tie up the thieves. Lucy then summoned Taurus and Loke to help them carry the several bundles of annoying thieves back to the village. And since they hadn't destroyed anything (except some trees that were burned down due to Natsu), for the first time after a _long_ while they got all the money, and Lucy actually allowed herself to think about a pair of shoes that she had seen a few days ago in a shop.

And because of all of this, she almost forgot about her sadness.  
Almost.

* * *

"'Kay Luce, see ya tomorrow!"

"Ok bye."

There was a _thump _outside her window that indicated that Natsu had reached the ground. She waited for a few moments until she was sure that the dragon slayer was out of earshot. After that, she couldn't wait any longer. She sat down on the floor, her back resting on the wall, and brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them.

She didn't realize that she was crying until her tear splashed onto her knee cap.

Why was she crying? Where were the tears coming from? Not from her eyes, but from her heart. She wept freely, not knowing the reason, not caring. Maybe she was crying because of the thing that had happened in the forest. Maybe she was crying because Natsu hadn't been embarrassed at all. Maybe she was crying because Natsu had acted as if nothing had happened. Maybe she was crying because now she knew that Natsu had no feelings for her whatsoever. Maybe.

But she was beyond caring now.

The window was flung open and a very angry someone hurled himself into the apartment. Lucy looked up to find a fuming Natsu glaring at her.

"Why are you crying, Luce?" he asked her angrily. "Who made you cry? I'll beat that person up until he can't even walk!"

The irony made Lucy laugh, albeit in a hiccough-y sort of way. "No, it's okay," she replied.

"Then why are you crying?"

Lucy felt her anger rise. Not only was he dense, but now he was being stubborn and over-curious. If he thought that the thing that happened in the forest was insignificant, then he had no right to know why she was crying!

"Because I feel like crying!" she replied sharply. "Why are you so concerned, anyways?"

"Because you're my nakama!" he shouted. "And you're really selfish if you're crying for no reason when you _know_ how terrible I feel when you cry!"

"This is a free country! I can do whatever I want!" she yelled back.

"But that doesn't mean you have to make your friends sad! I LOVE YOU LUCE!" he roared, enraged.

"Just shut- wait, what?"

She couldn't believe her ears. Had Natsu just _bellowed_ at her that he loved her? "You love me?"

He scowled at her. "Yes. So you shouldn't cry and make me sad."

The air was knocked clean out of him as she launched herself at him. "I love you too, Natsu! I was crying because I thought you didn't love me and because you didn't say anything about what happened in the forest, and- and- and you acted s-so normal and I was blushing all the time- and you didn't even notice," she sobbed. He wrapped his arms around her waist and laughed.

"Why are you laughing?" she asked, wiping her tear-stained face. He grinned broadly at her, "I've known for a long time that you love me."

"_Then why didn't you tell me that you loved me before?"_

Natsu scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Because I didn't know how to tell you. I tried asking Gray about what to do, but he just looked away. I think he was jealous that-" he snickered " you liked me but not him. I asked Gajeel but he just said to tell you outright, but I knew you wouldn't like that because you love reading romance novels." He frowned. "Elfman wasn't much help, either. He told me to face you like a man."

"You should have asked one of the girls," Lucy pointed out.

"They would have given me girly ideas like dates and flowers and heart shaped chocolates."

"So what were _you_ planning to do?"

He grinned, "I was gonna tell you tomorrow morning. Then you would be too sleepy to hit me or something if I said it wrongly. I tried to remember the things that you had told me in the tact classes." She laughed- because for the first time she had been denser than Natsu- and he kissed her, tightening his arms around her body, and she kissed him back, happiness penetrating every fibre of her being.

* * *

She rehearsed what she was going to say to all her friends as she and Natsu were walking to the guild the next morning. _I'll tell them in a really nonchalant way so that they don't make a big fuss about it, _she decided, and then looked up to see that they had reached the guild. _Okay, breathe normally Lucy. Act as if it isn't a big thing at all._

Meanwhile, Natsu had just kicked the door open, causing every eyeball to rivet towards him and Lucy. He then proceeded to shout out in front of the entire guild:

"I KISSED LUCY! WOOHOO!

* * *

_Yeah, it's reeeaaalllyyy long, but thanks for reading the entire story and not giving up in the middle. And I live for reviews, so please make me happy by clicking on that review button on the bottom of this page. I already have an idea for a sequel for this fic. Thanks! _


End file.
